Oman, the hot spot for tourists, film-makers

‘Beauty has an address’, with this tagline the Sultanate of Oman is not only trying to woo the Indian traveller but also film-makers and wedding planners by positioning that country as a wedding destination.

Addressing a press conference at a road show held by Oman Tourism here on Friday, Ms. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman, said that since mid-2010 when Oman Tourism started its presence here, there has been an increase in leisure tourist arrivals in that country from India. There has been a 35 per cent increase in 2012, compared to 2011 with the number of Indian travellers touching over 2.21 lakh last year.

After road shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, Oman Tourism was now focusing on other cities, including Hyderabad and Ahmedabad to woo travellers. She said the visa procedures too have been simplified and the fee had been brought down from 20 Rials to 5 Rials for a visit of less than 10 days.

Arabian hospitality

She said the tourist could experience a very authentic Arabian hospitality in Oman which has a huge population of Indian expatriates. Among its attractive destinations are rugged mountains, bustling souqs, desert landscape, beaches, over 500 castles and world heritage sites.

Observing that movies make an impact on people’s choice of travel, Ms. Lubaina said Oman Tourism would work with cinema production houses in Mumbai and in the South to popularise the destination in India.

Slideshow

Traffic got disrupted and main thoroughfares turned into canals due to a sudden unseasonal downpour in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon. The Hindu lensman Mohammed Yousuf captures the travails of commuters.